


How Do You Love? I Dare You.

by PurpleFlowerStormbringerCleric



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon), The Regrettes, The Regrettes Band
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Punk, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, F/M, Inspired by Music, Punk, Rock and Roll, based on an album
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-06 23:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20515097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleFlowerStormbringerCleric/pseuds/PurpleFlowerStormbringerCleric
Summary: His notebook read: "I've tried to read myself to sleep, but it just gives me anxiety. How will I know where I was when I started sleeping? I feel the same way about cuddling, but for dreaming. Distractions can be hard to find, but I suggest just make a list and you'll be fine; write down all the things you wanna learn to do; enjoy your favorite movies, starting old to new... It's the little things that I don't understand." Next to that page, a carbon copy of her face. Portraits are easy to make when your eyes are your camera, and your subject is standing in the light. You only need to blink in order to trigger the shutter. Suddenly, she's all you see.





	How Do You Love? I Dare You.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geekyastrophysicist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekyastrophysicist/gifts).

The amber light of early September was shining above the maple trees. The yellow leaves and the golden honey-like shades were melting in his eyes. His left-hand fingers were frantically tapping on his thigh while his right hand slid swiftly over the luxurious, yet, beaten notebook with rounded corners and ivory-colored, dotted paper. The tips of his fingers were full of black dust. The fine powder made his nails look as if he had been digging through the dirt. He couldn't have heard the skateboard approaching, for his earbuds were blasting The Clash's _Lovers Rock._

It was a terrible idea to sit on the curb after a rainy morning. His blue hoodie and his red scarf kept him warm, but his notebook fell victim to a careless skateboard that flew by a puddle, lifting enough water to turn his fancy notebook and charcoal pencil into useless, mushy items.

\- "What the...!" he shouted. It was pointless to try to see who ruined his work, for he saw only a slim, hooded figure, all dressed in black and commanding the skateboard as if it was walking on air. He stood up and began wiping the water away from his notebook. His canvas bag was a little wet, but definitely, most of the damage focused on the notebook. On the sidewalk, only a candy wrapper remained. He walked up to it and picked it up. Not happy enough with having ruined his work, the skateboarder was also a litterer. Callum looked at the wrapper. It was a bubblegum wrapper, but it certainly was odd. He knew that the local store did not carry vanilla peppermint flavor. He knew that everyone liked the Japanese-imported coffee-flavored bubblegum when finals were approaching and that root-beer flavored gum was sold on the local movie theater during children's films matinees. He knew that xylitol chewing gum was supposed to protect your teeth and that naive first semester freshmen thought that they could stuff themselves with mint-flavored gum right before class in order to hide the fact that they had been drinking. He knew all of these things because tended to remember random information like that. He didn't know how or why, but he was always interested in objects and landscapes, and the connections between them. That was why human subjects and anatomy were so difficult for him to draw. Most of his studies, both on photography and on drawing were about abstract concepts. After all, his photography series of glass jars, inspired by the works of Basquiat, was what brought him to the art academy. 

A familiar voice brought him back from his unstoppable ramblings. Her aubergine nails tread over the nape of his neck, and suddenly, her serpentine hand was playing with his hair.  
\- "Wake up, cinnamon bun!" she purred from behind, and draped her arms around him, pushing herself against his body. Callum got tense. He liked Claudia, he just felt weird about the ambiguous flirtation that had gone on and on between the two of them. Especially since her brother was so close to him, and with the three of them hanging out together most of the time.  
\- "O-oh, hey Claudia... I didn't see you there"  
\- "Of course you didn't. Head back in the clouds, I see. What was it this time? A pretty butterfly or something?" He turned around to see her, and she stepped away to pick up the things she had left leaning against the streetlight. Her dark hair was tied in a low bun, and her blouse was oddly formal for a school day at the art academy. Certainly, she was in the literature section most of the time, where her clothes would not be exposed to paint or other chemicals, but still, there was something particular about the dark blue blouse with the preppy white collar neck that she chose to pair with elegant dark skinny jeans and black pumps. It was impossible not to notice her and the way she stood out on campus. The only way to describe her would have been: pristine.  
She was holding her leather suitcase with her right hand, and in her left one, she was carrying a disposable coffee carrier with two cups, which she held out to him while biting her lip. - "Mind being a gentleman and helping me out?"  
Callum quickly threw his wet stuff in his open satchel and quickly picked up the disposable coffee carrier. They started walking.  
\- "Only two cups?" he asked - "Isn't Soren going to join us?"  
\- "Oh, you know, he's busy... the draft season is coming up soon, so Father wants him to practice his shotgun snap with the boys."  
\- "Shotgun snap?"  
\- "Yeah, football stuff. Don't ask me."  
Callum didn't ask. In fact, he seemed confused. Football terminology was off-putting for him. He didn't mean to appear uninterested, but Soren and his father always seemed to be part of their own world when it came to the expectations they had for Soren's future, and he didn't know how to avoid making the awareness of this fact uncomfortable for Claudia.  
They continued the way to the school building in silence. Callum kept fixating on the idea of Soren coming to an art-oriented university, because it was confusing, to say the least. He knew that Soren and Claudia's father thought that it would be an easy way to draw attention from recruiters for professional football teams, and given that both Claudia and Soren had a way with literature (though most of Soren's work was within the realm of poetry and Claudia was specializing in essay writing), acceptance into art academy was easy. Callum knew that being a part of the art circuit, especially in such a small place, was a tried and true method for getting your name out there. He knew because a similar thing had happened to him.

They came to a halt in the school lot, where there were chairs and tables with an attached umbrella. They took a seat in one of those tables and set down their food. Claudia opened up her suitcase and took out two croissants full of chocolate cream.  
-"There you go," she said - "a bit smushed, but edible." She smiled but kept looking at him inquisitively. He took the croissant in his hand and took a sip of his coffee. Black coffee was a bit too strong, but he didn't like the taste of the sweet flavorings that the café sometimes used on their drinks. She kept looking at him, until he finally asked -"What?"  
-"Nothing. You're awfully quiet today."  
-"Uh... yeah. Sorry."  
-"What's wrong?"  
-"Nothing..."  
-"You sure?"  
-"I mean... some ashole destroyed my notebook right before I met you..."  
-"THEY WHAT?!"  
-"Yeah, right before I saw you." He was quietly taking out the wet notebook and the charcoal out of his satchel. While talking to Claudia, he began turning the crumpled pages of the notebook, trying to dry them out with his sleeve as best as he could. She was shocked. She took out a small battery operated fan from her bag and turned it on, facing the notebook.  
-"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THE NERVE!"  
-"Chill. I guess I'll have to buy another one."  
-"You can't let people treat you like that Callum!"  
-"It was an accident."  
-"Sure, but the least they could do was apologize and offer to pay for the notebook!"  
-"I mean... I didn't see who did it though."  
She sighed. She knew it was pointless to try to make Callum stand up for himself. He just enjoyed the bubble in which he immersed himself when he was drawing or taking photographs. 

Anything could happen at those moments, and he would continue working on his art as if it wasn't a big deal. For Claudia, this was a bit nervewrecking. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but she did obtain most of her energy from others, and the fact that Callum was so content without any contact for so long, didn't make sense for her. She forced herself to change the topic. She tried her hardest to appear chill and to make Callum talk about random stuff. Music, mostly. She didn't quite understand Callum's taste in music, but she wanted to keep talking to him.

\- "Uh... Punk?"  
\- "Yeah!"  
\- "So... like Avril Lavigne or something?" Claudia was visibly confused. She hated noise. She was more of a Lo-fi kind of gal.  
\- "Nonononono, it's like The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Ramones... Well, those are what you could call first wave groups. More recently you have Dead Kennedys, Rancid, Oi Polloi... Do you wanna listen?"  
\- "Uh..." Callum had recovered energy, at least. But she was a bit horrified at the idea of him playing such loud music in public. Her phone rang.  
\- "Uh Soren! Hi!" ("Thank God", she thought)  
\- "Hey sis... Do you have my protein?"  
\- "What?"  
\- "My powder protein... I put the packets inside my bottle, but I can't find it. It was next to your thermos this morning. I have your thermos in my locker, but I can't find the protein shaker...."  
\- "Hold on, let me check..."  
Claudia opened her large suitcase and there it was, right next to her binder, a plastic protein shaker where she usually put her thermos. - "Yes, it's here. Where? Oh... Ok. Yeah, we'll see you there." She hung up.  
-"What's the matter?" Callum asked, his mouth full of bread.  
\- "Nothing. Apparently Soren took my thermos this morning and I have his... Whatever junk this is. Wanna come?"  
\- "Sure, where?" He downed his coffee and finished the rest of the croissant. She left hers, uneaten, in the table. ("Well, that's a waste..." Callum thought, before picking it up and putting it into his satchel while she walked away).  
\- "We're going to the football field."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading.   
This work is inspired by both The Dragon Prince and the album How Do You Love? by The Regrettes.  
This work is dedicated to my best friend, who brought me back to the world of the Writers after an incredibly long hiatus. Bless you, for letting me release all the frustration of my dissertation writing process into cute cartoons and fanfiction.


End file.
